“This was not a man sublimating his instincts, mind you, as Wladimir Klitschko did in his valiant defeat to Anthony Joshua. It would be wrong to recast Lara on the basis of his performance Saturday night—he was courageous, yes, but fell short of endearing. Because Lara owed his decision to stand and fight his most imposing opponent yet to age, to the absence of a viable alternative. And, of course, to Hurd, who gladly let Lara draw those lines in the sand, believing full well that at some point the fight Lara dared Hurd to bring would be the only one unfolding—and that that fight, made earnestly as all Hurd fights are, would be too much for a fighter with aging legs and a negative style. There is no choice when options are removed, and even had Lara chosen (rather than been forced) to fight more doggedly, the price of stalling Hurd was clear enough to make a spectator await expectantly the fight’s second half.”
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